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The City Beautiful has received recognition for its dedication to trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has named New Richmond as a Tree City USA community. It is the first time the city has received the national recognition. "We're very happy we got the Tree City award," said Joe Kerlin, director of parks and recreation. "We've been working toward this for some time.

Pit bull dogs don't have a great reputation these days. But a rural Star Prairie dog's heroic efforts may just give the breed a much needed public relations boost. Cisco, a 102-pound, 4-year-old pit bull, was taken outside to relieve himself at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, by his owner's girlfriend. Martha Sorrells was home alone at the time and knew the dog needed to do his duty. But when Sorrells stepped on an icy patch in the back yard, she slipped and broke her right foot. "I just had on some thin sleep pants and a T-shirt," Sorrells said.

The first dredge is rolling off the assembly line at the new Liquid Waste Technology (LWT) plant in New Richmond. The event could be viewed as the first of many success stories the company expects to create locally. LWT moved from its previous location in Somerset to a new 45,500-square-foot plant west of New Richmond's Wal-Mart. And even though they just moved in over the past month, the company is poised to start an expansion project this spring. James Pflueger, LWT general manager, said an additional 37,500 square feet of production space will be added to the facility over the next few

Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College-New Richmond campus administrator Joe Huftel lost his hair Thursday. But it was all for a good cause. Huftel had challenged the staff at the New Richmond school to increase its share of donations to the WITC foundation fund, which supplies monies for student scholarships. The staff met the challenge, thanks in part to increased donations from First National Community Bank of New Richmond and Irv and Mary Sather. So Huftel, and a crowd of students and staff, showed up at 11:30 Thursday (March 13) to witness the hair shaving incident.

Mary Mettler is hoping for a miracle. The 30-year resident of New Richmond underwent a bone marrow transplant Feb. 18 at the University of Minnesota hospitals. Mettler was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in September. She was treated with chemotherapy in the weeks leading up to the eventual transplant. The fact that she received the transplant is a miracle in itself. Doctors usually reject potential transplant patients who are 56 years old or more. Mettler turned 56 on Feb. 27. Doctors also found a "perfect" match for the bone marrow donor.

Paul Branch has devoted years to the service of his community's residents. Now it's payback time. A 13-year veteran of the New Richmond Fire Department, Branch was diagnosed with leukemia Dec. 10, 2007. Family, friends and fellow firefighters are planning a special benefit to help Branch cover some of his medical expenses resulting from the bone marrow transplant he received Feb. 12. The event is planned for 1-5 p.m. Sunday, March 30, at Ready Randy's, south of New Richmond. Live music will be provided by the band Good Time Willie.

A New Richmond man has been awarded a $19,462 judgment in a federal copyright infringement case. Chris Gregerson took Vilana Financial, Inc. and Vilana Realty, Inc. to court more than two years ago after he discovered the Minnesota company had allegedly used two of his photographs in advertising without permission. The case was the subject of a trial on Nov. 5, 2007. The judge's ruling was announced Feb.

As the real estate market continues to stagnate, builders are trying new ways to sell homes. One of the latest trends is one-day auctions, where a block of homes is put up for sale with no set minimum price. The unusual sales technique has grown in popularity during these tough economic times. Auction sales of new homes increased by more than 5 percent last year. One month from now, seven western Wisconsin homes will be included in an auction sale being conducted by MW Johnson.

The manure from the Turkey Store Company's farm near New Richmond is making western Minnesota homes a little brighter. Since last June, the farm along County Road A has been shipping tons of "turkey litter" to an electrical generation plant in Benson, Minn. The litter includes a combination of turkey manure and bedding material, such as wood chips, feathers, seed shells and spilled feed. The Benson plant, which was constructed by Fibrowatt Ltd., a British corporation, currently burns 500,000 tons of turkey litter a year along with 100,000 to 200,000 tons of crops and/or agricultural wastes.